Women's Views Research Articles

Positive postpartum well-being: What works for women.

Women's experiences of pregnancy, birth and motherhood extend beyond healthcare provision and the immediate postpartum. Women's social, cultural and political environments shape the positive or negative effects of their experiences through this transition. However, there is limited research concerning the factors that women identify as being protective or promotive of maternal well-being in the perinatal period and motherhood transition. To explore women's views on the factors within healthcare, social, cultural, organizational, environmental and political domains that do or can work well in creating positive perinatal experiences. A qualitative descriptive study with embedded public and participant involvement (PPI). Participants were 24 women who were maternity care service users giving birth in Ireland. Three themes were developed. The first theme, 'tone of care', related to women's interactions with and attitudes of healthcare professionals in setting the tone for the care they experienced. The second theme, 'postpartum presence and support', concerned the professional postpartum supports and services that women found beneficial in the motherhood transition. The final theme, 'flexibility for new families' addresses social and organizational issues around parents returning to paid employment. Women suggested multiple avenues for promoting positive perinatal experiences for women giving birth in Ireland, which may be implemented at healthcare and policy levels. Women identified that maternal health educationfocuses on supporting informed decision-making processes as a positive and worry-alleviating resource. Additionally, women valued being met by healthcare professionals who regard women as the decision makers in their care experience. Exchanges in which healthcare professionals validate and encourage women in their mothering role and actively involve their partners as caregiversleft lasting positive impressions. Extended and professional postpartum support was a common issue, and phone lines or drop-in clinics were suggested as invaluable and affirming assets where women could access personalized support with healthcare professionals who had the knowledge and skills to genuinely approach women's concerns. Social and organizational considerations involved supporting parents to balance their responsibilities as new or growing families in the return to work. Maternity care service users were involved in the interviews and manuscript preparation.

Evaluating the Minimalistic View of Women from Mulla Sadra's Perspective

امروزه مسئلة زن و جایگاه هستی شناختی او، یکی از مباحث مطرح در حوزة اندیشه و علوم اجتماعی است. این مسئلة نوظهور اگرچه در اندیشة متفکران چند سدة گذشته از جمله ملاصدرا، مسبوق به سابقه نیست، اما عبارات اندک و موجزی از برخی اندیشمندان وجود دارد که با تکیه بر آن‌ها می‌توان به «ارزش انسانی زن» نزد ایشان پِی برد. در فلسفة صدرالمتالهین افزون بر برخی از عبارات (چهارده عبارت) دربارة زنان، مبانی فلسفی وی نیز می‌تواند در خصوص دیدگاه ملاصدرا کمک کننده باشد. پژوهش حاضر که به روش توصیفی – تحلیلی نگاشته شده، می‌کوشد بدین پرسش که «آیا ملاصدرا نسبت به جایگاه انسانی زن، نگاهی حداقلی داشته است؟» پاسخ دهد. حاصل تلاش‌های صورت گرفته بر اساس دو نحوة بررسی عبارت محور و مبنا محور، آن است که عباراتی که از صدرالمتالهین در انتساب نقصان عقل به زن وجود دارد، نه معنایی که عُرف از قصور عقل می‌فهمد را دارد و نه به جنس زن اختصاص دارد بلکه عبارات مزبور بیان‌گر مرتبه‌ای از مراتب انسان، خواه زن و خواه مرد است؛ مبانی فلسفی او نیز به‌طور مطلق جنسیت‌پذیری نفس را نفی و به این ترتیب برابری هویت انسانی زن و مرد را اثبات می‌کند، همچنین در اثنای این پژوهش به چند اشکال احتمالی و پاسخ آن‌ها، پیرامون عدم جنسیت پذیری نفس اشاره شده است.

Thomas Hardy’s Representation of Eustacia as the Sexual Stereotype in the Male Dominated Society in The Return of the Native

In The Return Of The Native, Hardy’s Protagonist Eustacia Vye Materializes As A Single Body Which Makes Her A Unitary Sex Object. He Depicts That She Becomes Bound To Be Subordinate To The Patriarchal Power Relations. As A Narrative, He Shows Over-Generalized Statements About Her Women Characters. By The Term Over-Generalizing Femaleness, Hardy Represents Femininity As A Unified Entity To The Middle-Class Victorians. Women Also Make Them Object, Allow Males To Dominate Them. In This Novel, Thomasin And Mrs. Yeobright Are Submissive But Eustacia Rejects The Conventional Views Of Women And Expresses Dreams Of Paris By Marring Clym. She Is So Over Ambitious To Lead An Aristocratic Life. Thus, Hardy’s Generalization About Eustacia Presents Her As Representatives Of Her Sex

Das Haus: Familiengeschichte vom Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts by Lou Andreas-Salomé, and: Annaliese's House: A Translation of Lou Andreas Salomé's 1921 Novel Das Haus: Familiengeschichte vom Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts by Lou Andreas-Salomé

Reviewed by: Das Haus: Familiengeschichte vom Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts by Lou Andreas-Salomé, and: Annaliese's House: A Translation of Lou Andreas Salomé's 1921 Novel Das Haus: Familiengeschichte vom Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts by Lou Andreas-Salomé Susan C. Anderson Das Haus: Familiengeschichte vom Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts. By Lou Andreas-Salomé. Edited by Brigitte Spreitzer. Taching am See: MedienEdition Welsch, 2021. Pp. 396. Cloth €32.80. ISBN 978-3-937211-44-2. Annaliese's House: A Translation of Lou Andreas Salomé's 1921 Novel Das Haus: Familiengeschichte vom Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts. By Lou Andreas-Salomé. Translated by Frank Beck and Raleigh Whitinger. Rochester: Camden House, 2021. Pp. lxiv + 227. Cloth $99.00. ISBN 978-1-64014-101-8. Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861–1937) wrote most of her final novel Das Haus: Familiengeschichte vom Ende des vorigen Jahrhunderts in 1904, but she waited until 1921 to complete and publish it. It has taken one hundred years for an English translation to appear, and it coincidentally appeared in the same year as a new German edition was published. The novel traces the unfolding of two women's psyches within the socio-cultural and emotional constraints of patriarchy. At issue is to what extent the [End Page 585] women can move within and beyond those constraints and how the central image of the house represents their struggle. The house in which the main characters, the Branhardts, live is modeled on the house "Loufried," which Salomé and her spouse, Friedrich Carl Andreas, bought in Göttingen after Andreas accepted a position at the university there. Das Haus was originally entitled Die Ehe, but the final title better encompasses the novel's focus on both marriage and family relationships. Critics at the time praised Das Haus for its nuanced focus on women, family, duty (Auguste Hauschner), harmony, and psychological complexity (Gabriele Reuter, Christine Touaillon). Yet in the later twentieth century, Salomé was criticized for her outdated views of gender. The book received little scholarly notice until Salomé's literary oeuvre underwent critical reevaluation towards the end of the twentieth century. Since then, the text has figured in studies of Salomé's thoughts on psychology, religion, aesthetics, gender, and sexuality. As Muriel Cormican has pointed out, Das Haus reveals Salomé's contradictory ideas about women's emancipation, ideas that both encourage women's autonomy and accept as given a woman's desire to submit in marriage. The house imagery relates to the psychological changes in Annaliese Branhardt and her daughter, Gitta, who later moves into another house with Markus. It also highlights the women's different views of marriage and provides a space for the development of creativity, the deepening of family relationships, and serves as a microcosm of social relations. As Brigitte Spreitzer argues in her nuanced afterword to the German edition, the house in the novel serves as a three-dimensional space for imagination and the unconscious (351). By placing the narrative within the context of Salomé's aesthetic theories, Spreitzer contends that the house represents the author's storytelling as well as the characters' growth and changes of perspective. The house also at times serves as an analogy for Annaliese and Gitta's entrapment in the patriarchal order, while offering them a safe place to develop the strength to break free of its confines, to a certain extent. The novel's end, as Spreitzer notes, shows Annaliese outside facing away from the house, embodying Salomé's ideal woman who has found an outlet for her creative impulses through her unconstrained psyche (373). Spreitzer's analysis offers rich context to the house imagery by connecting it to notions of home and the unconscious in Salomé's letters, diary entries, essays, and fiction. Her interpretation illuminates Salomé's grappling with women's social and gender roles throughout her writing as well as her efforts to deconstruct gender binaries. The main narrative perspective is that of Annaliese, but readers also have insight into the thoughts of her spouse, Frank Branhardt, and their adult children, Gitta and Balduin. Salomé sets up a generational conflict between parents and children as well as conflicts over gender roles between Annaliese and Frank, Gitta and her husband...

Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Views of Women from the Second‐Wave Feminist Movement

AbstractThis is a qualitative study of the career perspectives of early female leaders in Canada whose careers emerged from the second‐wave feminist movement and who ascended to executive leadership positions. Using a discourse analytic lens, we analyze their perspectives on women's limited presence in executive leadership roles. The research participants suggested that women lacked the necessary resilience or personality; women lacked requisite political skills; affirmative action policies have hindered women's career advancement; and women have been unable to put their careers over family in the way that is required for executive leadership. The views expressed by these participants are often contrarian to current thinking about gender and leadership but underline the gendered nature of persistent barriers to executive leadership past and present.

Uncertainty, manageability and individuation: A longitudinal qualitative study of women's conceptualisations of risk from pregnancy to breastfeeding—the case of alcohol consumption

Alcohol use during pregnancy and breastfeeding is associated with diverse risks to infant health. As there is no known safe threshold of alcohol consumption, official guidelines advocate a precautionary approach and advise pregnant and breastfeeding women to abstain. Sociological research has shown that women's occasional drinking during pregnancy involves complex responses to risk messages and health recommendations. However, research on women's views on alcohol consumption during breastfeeding is mostly non-existent. Moreover, how and whether women's understandings of the risk change from one period to the next has not been investigated. Based on longitudinal qualitative interviews, this article aims to understand how women make sense of the risk of alcohol consumption from pregnancy to breastfeeding. Using thematic data analysis, we identify three key conceptualisations of alcohol use as a risk. The first one relates to risk discourses emphasising scientific uncertainty about low alcohol consumption, strict abstinence as shaped by discourse on “good motherhood” and representation of the pregnant body as permeable. The second conceptualisation focuses on the risk as manageable and refers to strategies for controlling consequences of occasional drinking and to representation of woman's body as a filter. The third conceptualisation highlights individuation as the way women regard their foetus or infant as a vulnerable and concrete being. By examining the continuity and change of women's views of the issue of alcohol consumption, this article addresses the transition to motherhood through the lens of the risk issue and contributes to the understanding of risk perception over time.

'They Sent Me Out to School, and I Came Back with a Baby': Perinatal Women's Experiences of Biographical Disruption and Nonfatal Suicidal Behaviour.

Exploring perinatal women's experience of nonfatal suicidal behaviour (NFSB) could help illuminate the contexts in which perinatal suicide occurs and new ways to conceptualise maternal suicide prevention. Our aim was to explore perinatal women's subjective experience of NFSB in South Africa. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with seven perinatal women hospitalised following NFSB. Thematic analysis showed how poverty and gender norms shape experiences of pregnancy and highlighted the need for eco-systemic interventions for perinatal women in resource scarce environments to increase social support, assist with childcare, improve educational retention, challenge gender norms and increase paternal involvement. Pregnancy can precipitate biographical disruption by disturbing women's view of themselves and their futures. An inability to reconstruct a coherent narrative and re-imagine the future impedes the transition to motherhood and provides a context for suicide. Using the concept of biographical disruption to frame perinatal suicide, could identify novel approaches to suicide prevention.

Women's views and experiences of accessing pertussis vaccination in pregnancy and infant vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-methods study in the UK

BackgroundCOVID-19 changed access to healthcare, including vaccinations, in the United Kingdom (UK). This study explored UK women’s experiences of accessing pertussis vaccination during pregnancy and infant vaccinations during COVID-19. MethodsAn online cross-sectional survey was completed, between 3rd August-11th October 2020, by 1404 women aged 16+ years who were pregnant at some point after the first UK lockdown from March 23rd, 2020. Ten follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted. ResultsMost women surveyed were pregnant (65.7%) and a third postnatal (34.3%). Almost all women (95.6%) were aware that pertussis vaccination is recommended in pregnancy. Most pregnant (72.1%) and postnatal women (84.0%) had received pertussis vaccination; however, access issues were reported.Over a third (39.6%) of women had a pregnancy vaccination appointment changed. COVID-19 made it physically difficult to access pregnancy vaccinations for one fifth (21.5%) of women and physically difficult to access infant vaccinations for almost half of women (45.8%). Nearly half of women (45.2%) reported feeling less safe attending pregnancy vaccinations and over three quarters (76.3%) less safe attending infant vaccinations due to COVID-19. The majority (94.2%) felt it was important to get their baby vaccinated during COVID-19.Pregnant women from ethnic-minorities and lower-income households were less likely to have been vaccinated. Minority-ethnicity women were more likely to report access problems and feeling less safe attending vaccinations for both themselves and their babies.Qualitative analysis found women experienced difficulties accessing antenatal care and relied on knowledge from previous pregnancies to access vaccines in pregnancy. ConclusionDuring the ongoing and future pandemics, healthcare services should prioritise equitable access to routine vaccinations, including tailoring services for ethnic-minority families who experience greater barriers to vaccination.

Jämställdhet och mäns medellivslängd

The average life expectancy of men in Sweden has rapidly approached that of women over the past twenty years. Deaths related to the consumption of alcohol and tobacco as well as to suicide have decreased among both sexes. However, this means that more men than women are being saved to live longer lives, since these causes of death are more common among men than women. Surprisingly, the relatively strong status of women in Swedish society may be an important factor underlying the levelling out of the gender differences in average life expectancy. As women's entry into the labour märket during the 1960s and 1970s resulted in an expansion of women's life space into previously male domains, this has also resulted in men's increased engagement with child care and household work during the 1980s and 1990s. The fact that men have taken on a more concrete responsibility for child care may in turn have significance for attitudes towards taking risks in traffic and the over-consumption of alcohol and smoking, both among men and in society in general. An overall greater impact by women's views on which societal issues should receive high priority is perhaps of even more importance. For example, the relatively prominent position of women in society led to early priority being given to child safety issues. All in all, this means that we have a society where health risks are viewed from a more "feminine" perspective than was previously the case, and that both women and men adopt more pronounced attitudes towards safety and care, which influences trends in health. This article shows that gender differences in average life expectancy are caused by factors that are highly sensitive to social change. There is no reason to mystify the fact that women live longer than men by attributing it to something inaccessible in women's biological nature. There is a great and still undeveloped potential in the study of how gender differences in average life expectancy arise/exist that can lead to new perspectives in our knowledge about the determinants of public health. Improved public health is one of many arguments for a more gender equal society.

Addressing perineal health to improve women's wellbeing

Many women are suffering in silence with perineal problems after childbirth. Amy Morton explores women's views about perineal health after childbirth, attempting to demystify and illustrate their experiences

POSTPARTUM SEXUALITY: A STUDY FROM TURKISH WOMEN'S PERSPECTIVES

This study is a descriptive study conducted to determine women's views on sexuality in the postpartum period. This study was conducted in the postpartum clinic of a state hospital in a city in Turkey. The study sample included 355 women with 95% confidence and 5% margin of error. The data was collected through questionnaire which were conducted face to face interviews. Chi-square test was used in statistical analysis. The average age of participant women is 26.31 (SD=5.54). The 51.3% of women agreed that “it is a sin to have sexual intercourse within 40 days following the childbirth”. There is no significant difference between primipara and multipara women in the sense of agreement frequency of this statement (p>0.05). On the other hand, the 46.8% of women agreed with the statement that “Resuming sexual intercourses after birth would be difficult” and 46.5% agreed “Sexual intercourse after birth would be painful”. There was a statistically significant difference in the acceptance rate of these statements between multiparous and primiparous women (p<0.05). According to these results, it is recommended to address the issue of postpartum sexuality within the scope of both prenatal and postnatal care services.

A snapshot of women's and clinicians' perceptions of the double balloon catheter for induction of labor.

INTRODUCTIONInduction of labor (IOL) is rising globally and is growing steadily in the state of New South Wales, Australia. There are numerous methods of induction of labor, including the double balloon catheter (DBC). There is minimal evidence on women’s attitudes and experiences and clinician’s opinions on the use of the DBC. This study aims to explore the views regarding DBC insertion and effectiveness from women induced with a DBC and clinicians involved in the catheter insertion and care.METHODSThis study is a descriptive survey of two prospective, de-identified, self-reported questionnaires which were completed in 2016. One questionnaire was administered to term pregnant women that were admitted to the antenatal ward post IOL, and the other was completed by midwives and obstetric doctors working in the ward at the time.RESULTSThe DBC appeared to be a well-accepted method of cervical ripening among women (61%) and clinicians (>82%). Success of DBC to achieve an artificial rupture of membrane post removal, directly correlates to women’s acceptance (61%). While most clinicians (59–67%) perceived insertion of DBC in an outpatient setting and then women discharged home was appropriate, only 13% of women were in favor. On the logistics of the procedure in respect to insertion and removal of the DBC, there were differences of opinion, with only 43% of women, 77% of midwives and 33% of doctors stating that the timing of insertion and removal needed to be improved.CONCLUSIONSThis study highlights the need to undertake qualitative research to further explore women’s views and perceptions on IOL in order to ensure that clinical practice is woman-centered and evidenced-based, and to guide policy and protocol.

"It's something I'll do until I die": A qualitative examination into why older women in the U.S. continue screening mammography.

BackgroundProfessional guidelines in the U.S. do not recommend routine screening mammography for women ≥75 years with limited life expectancy and/or poor health. Yet, routine mammography remains widely used in older women. We examined older women's experiences, beliefs, and opinions about screening mammography in relation to aging and health.MethodsWe performed thematic analysis of transcribed semi‐structured interviews with 19 women who had a recent screening visit at a mammography clinic in New York City (average age: 75 years, 63% Hispanic, 53% ≤high school education).ResultsThree main themes emerged: (1) older women typically perceive mammograms as a positive, beneficial, and routine component of care; (2) participation in routine mammography is reinforced by factors at interpersonal, provider, and healthcare system levels; and (3) older women do not endorse discontinuation of screening mammography due to advancing age or poor health, but some may be receptive to reducing screening frequency. Only a few older women reported having discussed mammography cessation or the potential harms of screening with their providers. A few women reported they would insist on receiving mammography even without a provider recommendation.ConclusionsOlder women's positive experiences and views, as well as multilevel and frequently automated cues toward mammography are important drivers of routine screening in older women. These findings suggest a need for synergistic patient, provider, and system level strategies to reduce mammography overuse in older women.

Shedding light: A qualitative study of women's view on Men's Sheds in Ireland and Australia.

Older men are less likely than women to meet in social groups and have greater difficulty developing social relationships beyond paid work. Yet they are joining Men's Sheds in ever greater numbers, often with the support of women, as wives, partners and daughters. Little is known about women's perspectives of Men's Sheds and what women get from men's participation in Sheds. Informed by social role theory, the present study explored narratives from 26 significant women of male Shedders in Ireland and Australia. The narratives reveal how gender roles and unspoken rules shape people's lives, with three overarching themes emerging. These include (1) older men being vulnerable, with subthemes men's masculine persona, and women's vigilance, (2) gendered spaces for older men, with subthemes companionship: men mending men and healing in the Shed and (3) the spill over effects of Men's Sheds. Retirement, whether planned or prompted by ill-health, ushers in a new stage of life, requiring new routines and social contacts. For men who lived their life according to gender social roles, which perceive men as masculine, independent and assertive and not inclined to open display of emotion and affection, adjusting to certain aspects of retirement may be difficult, particularly the lack of purposeful activity. Conversely, for women social role identity may be a source of strength for recognising and accepting vulnerability, and for seeking help. Our findings suggest women are central in encouraging older men to join Men's Sheds. In turn, women may experience an alleviation of stress when men participate in Sheds because they are not under the same pressure of their traditional social roles as carers and nurturers.

Study on Michelet's View of Women

In recent years, Jules Michelet has been increasingly studied, but most of them focus on his Romantic Historiography as a whole. As a representative figure of French Romantic Historiography in the 19th century, Michelet paid special attention to women in addition to country and revolutionary history. This paper analyzes Michelet's view of women in terms of his attitude toward women, the moral qualities he advocated, and the ideal social relations he constructed for women. Michelet justified the historically stigmatized women and emphasized the outstanding contribution of women in French history. Michelet saw tolerance and elegance as inherently virtues of women, on the basis of which the ideal woman should also be humble, chaste, and patriotic. Michelet regarded the "supernature", which is a combination of the spiritual qualities of both genders as the perfect one, and he constructed a set of gender relations in which both sides are unified, complementary, harmonious and even equal. He valued the social value of women's pregnancy and child education, and encouraged them to devote themselves to society and the nation without leaving the family in order to achieve the unity of the people. There is no denying that Michelet's view of women is limited by the times, but it is still highly progressive and noteworthy.

Barriers to Screening for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in New Zealand Following the Introduction of Universal Screening Recommendations.

Background:In 2014 the New Zealand Ministry of Health implemented a universal program of screening for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in pregnancy; however, data suggest that only half of all women are being screening according to the guidelines. This study aimed to explore women's views and experiences of GDM screening and to determine what the main screening barriers are.Methods:Eighteen women were recruited from the Waikato region of New Zealand, who were either pregnant (>28 weeks of gestation) or had given birth in the last 6 months. These women participated in a semi-structured interview about their experience of GDM screening and the transcripts were thematically analyzed. Of these women, 14 had been screened for gestational diabetes (three were screened late) and four had not been screened at all.Results:Multiple barriers to screening for GDM were identified, with two overarching themes of “confusion, concerns, and access to information for screening,” and “challenges to accessing and completing the screening test.” Specific barriers included the preference of risk-based assessments for GDM by their leading health professional (usually a registered midwife); negative perceptions of “sugar drink test”; needing time off work and childcare; travel costs for rural women; previous negative screening experiences; and reduced health literacy.Conclusion:There appear to be both woman-, midwife-, and system-level barriers to screening for GDM. While screening is ultimately a woman's choice, there does appear to be capacity to increase screening rates by improving awareness of the updated guidelines, and making the test environment more accessible and comfortable.

A Global View of Women, Prison, and Aftercare: A Call for Reform

Ending violence against women-part of the priority theme of the CSW65-is an international human rights issue. We must prevent and combat violence against all women, including those who are incarcerated worldwide. Incarcerated women are among the most marginalized populations; they have suffered numerous victimizations without ever seeing their perpetrators brought to justice. Though most incarcerated women have committed non-violent offenses, they are locked away in prisons, far away from their loved ones, and subject to inhumane conditions. According to international human rights law, preventing VAW is the responsibility of the State in all contexts, including prisons. In this article, we acknowledge the global treatment of women in prison as a form of State violence against women and provide policy reform for incarcerated women worldwide. We propose four strategies to reform women's incarceration worldwide: (1) recognizing and dismantling systemic and institutionalized discrimination and biases; (2) abolition of prison sentences for non-violent offenders; (3) restorative approaches to aftercare (or reentry); and (4) making children the priority.

Women's views and experiences of augmentation of labour with synthetic oxytocin infusion. A protocol for a qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: Augmentation of labour (AOL) is the most common intervention to treat labour dystocia. Previous research reported extensive disparities in AOL rates across countries and institutions. Despite its widespread use, women's views on and experiences of intrapartum augmentation with infused synthetic oxytocin are limited. Methods: A qualitative evidence synthesis on women's views and experiences of AOL with synthetic oxytocin after spontaneous onset of labour will be conducted. Qualitative studies and studies employing a mixed methods design, where qualitative data can be extracted separately, will be included, as will surveys with open-ended questions that provide qualitative data. A systematic search will be performed of the databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Maternity and Infant Care and Web of Science Core Collection from the date of inception. The methodological quality of included studies will be assessed using the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre's appraisal tool. A three-stage approach, coding of data from primary studies, development of descriptive themes and generation of analytical themes, will be used to synthesise findings. Confidence in findings will be established by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation-Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research. Discussion: This qualitative evidence synthesis may provide valuable information on women's experiences of AOL and contribute to a review of clinical practice guidelines for maternity care providers. PROSPERO registration: CRD42021285252 (14/11/2021).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's views of cervical screening by self‐collection: a qualitative study

ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's views of self‐collection introduced in the renewed National Cervical Screening Program. MethodsA total of 79 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women (50 screened in previous five years, 29 under‐screened) from five clinics across three Australian states/territories participated. Topics discussed were perceptions of self‐collection, the instruction card and suggestions for implementing self‐collection. We employed yarning (a qualitative method), which established relationships and trust between participants and researchers to facilitate culturally safe conversations. Transcripts were analysed thematically. ResultsMost women were unaware of self‐collection before the yarn but found it to be an acceptable way to participate in cervical screening. Women perceived self‐collection would be convenient, provide a sense of control over the screening experience, and maintain privacy and comfort. The instructions were perceived to be simple and easy to follow. Women had concerns about collecting the sample correctly and the accuracy of the sample (compared to clinician‐collected samples). ConclusionsSelf‐collection is acceptable to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Implications for public healthGiven the inequitable burden of cervical cancer experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, self‐collection is likely to significantly improve participation and ultimately improve cervical cancer outcomes.

Second-generation Asian American women's gendered racial socialization.

Utilizing an intersectional framework (Crenshaw, 1989) and socioecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), we investigated the gendered racialized messages Asian American women receive growing up, otherwise known as gendered racial socialization, from their family, peers, and mass media. Consensual Qualitative Research was used to analyze interview data from 12 second-generation Asian American women. The results demonstrated that (a) family socialization messages included gendered racial discrimination, body image and physical appearance, marital/dating attitudes, role responsibilities and expectations, and academic/work expectations, (b) peer socialization included oppressive messages (e.g., physical objectification, denial of identity, lack of presence) and affirming messages (e.g., positive self-concept messages), and (c) mass media socialization included oppressive messages (e.g., lack of representation, stereotypical depictions), and affirming messages (e.g., messages about empowerment). These messages impacted Asian American women's views on their body image and physical appearance, self-esteem, career/work, mental health, and critical consciousness. Implications and findings of the need to dismantle interlocking oppressive forces are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).